NEWS

Republicans want vote on telemedicine abortion ban

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in the Iowa Senate want legislative leaders to revive a measure that would ban the remote distribution of abortion-inducing drugs.

The bill cleared the Republican-majority House, 55-42, but has since been declared dead in the Democratic-controlled Senate. In a press conference Monday, minority Republicans called on leaders in the Senate to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote.

The measure would prohibit the use of webcams or teleconferencing as a means of dispensing abortion pills to patients in remote locations.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says in a statement that such a measure would mean refusing health care for rural Iowans. Republican Sen. David Johnson, of Ocheyedan, says the ban is to protect the well-being of women across the state.